"Damon!" Sam grit her teeth as she felt her captor leaving bruises on her wrists, but she fought anyway. "Let go of me! Damon! No!"
Sam's struggles were pointless against her captor's strong grip, and she felt the air leaving her lungs as one of the men brought the butt of his rife down hard on the back of Baird's head.
Her eyes filled with tears as his body hit the ground, and she fought even harder to break free, but to no avail. The brunette was able to catch a quick glimpse of the dark red blood trickling down Baird's neck before he faded from view, and Sam's tears got caught in her throat when she knew she couldn't do anything to help.
The distant sounds of the base alarm rang through her ears, but the hope that she'd be rescued was quickly slipping away. Sam knew how far she was from base, and she'd realized that she and Baird had strayed off route as they bantered back and fourth; the sound of each other's voice making them oblivious to the task at hand.
These guys have guns too, she thought. They'll put up a fight. It occurred to Sam that these men were skilled; highly trained, and experienced. They were able to not only locate the remote island, but they'd also gotten past the patrol, and now had her as their prisoner, without so much as an ounce of interference from the COG soldiers, who were no doubt asleep until the alert was issued.
Oh God Marcus; Anya, Cole…Where are you?
It was dark. Sam's booted feet dug small ditches into the soft ground as she pulled away from the man in black, who grunted with effort as he forced her along. She couldn't see much around her; the surrounding vegetation was shutting out the moon's soft glow, and the only other light source was coming from the power indicators on her chest plate, and they weren't much help.
Her feet were treading sand now, and Sam could make out the silhouette of a small boat—a fishing vessel off shore. Its lights were out, making it blend right in with the surrounding darkness. Waves crashed hard over the beach, and Sam's body went cold once she realized how long it'd be until her friends were able to find her.
If they'd find her at all.
Despite his unyielding grip, the man who dragged Sam along found it was all he could do to haul her body unto the deck. He'd covered her mouth with his palm again after her shouts and screams were too much to handle, and he was thankful for his thick gloves after witnessing what the blonde had done to his comrade. He looked over his shoulder as he stepped into the boat, checking once again for any signs of the opposing force.
Nothing. No one in sight. He smiled.
The man who'd knocked Baird out held a strip of cloth over his hand as he boarded the ship, gesturing for the driver to get the hell out of there, fast.
"Morgan, give me a hand. This bitch just won't quit." The man who had Sam called. Morgan came to his superior's aid, holding Sam's hand's behind her back as the leader, referred to as Carris bound the brunette's wrists.
They'd pulled up a chair, and sat the woman down rather roughly, pulling her arms over the back to keep them behind her. Sam at once voiced her anger at her present situation once Carris took his palm from her face.
"You bloody bastards! You don't know who you're fucking with!" She struggled against the cloth around her wrists as the two men stood in front of her, looking over their handy work.
"You were the one with Fenix in Char, yes?" The leader of the group asked, his voice calm—content—as he turned his head to one side. Sam ignored him, and the guy named Barns who'd hand his hand bitten took a step forward and slapped Sam hard across her cheek.
"That's for this." He held up his crudely bandaged palm. "Now answer the goddamn question."
Sam's face stung, and she blinked hard once, refusing to let the tears in her eyes fall. Her jaw set tight and she shot the man a hard stare, one that clearly meant death. She waited a moment, staring the man down for another second before speaking.
"Yeah, I was there. What the fuck does it matter to you?" She spat, her voice low, like a growl. Her cheek burned, and she ached to reach up and rub it. But even if her hands weren't bound, she'd never give them the satisfaction of knowing that the blow had hurt like hell.
Carris smiled a small sinister smile and rolled his neck. It was clear he was enjoying her predicament, and Sam's thoughts drifted, thinking with anticipation what exactly she was going to do to him when—not if, when she escaped.
"You see?" He glanced at his two companions. The boat was moving away from the island at breakneck speed, and Sam's heart sank as Azura faded from view.
"Fenix's girl. Just like he wanted."
Fenix's girl… Sam's brow knitted with confusion. He thinks I'm…
The cocky bastard seemed to notice her expression as his gaze drifted from his buddies. He stared her down as a small smile crept across Sam's lips. The brunette chuckled and shook her head, much to her captor's confusion as well as irritation.
"What the fuck is she laughing at?" Morgan asked no one in particular, bewildered as he watched Sam shake her head, still chuckling softly to herself. She began mumbling words in Kashkuri, and one of the dark haired snipers who'd been standing off to the side lifted his head when the particularly sharp curses reached his ears.
"Yeah, what the fuck are you laughing at?" Barns stepped forward with a violent look in his eye before his superior held him back. Just then, Sam spoke.
"You know, for a second there, I actually thought you knew what you were doing."
The men stared her down impatiently. She shook her head again, obviously taking pleasure in their confused expressions.
"So you're telling me that asshole Griffin sent you guys all this way, and you didn't even know who to look for." Sam's eyes almost mirrored sympathy.
"Is that the only info he gave you? 'Fenix's girl'?"
By now Carris had grown pretty tired of Sam's voice, and he grabbed her arm roughly.
"Shut your fucking mouth," he snarled, eyes blazing as Sam's face held no fear what so ever. She looked as though she were almost enjoying this.
"Anya Stroud is the one you're looking for, dickhead." She feigned pity as she continued. "I hate to tell you, but you got the wrong person."
"You said you were there!" The man raised his voice; his tone had lost its confident air long ago. "Char. You were with Fenix in Char!"
"Did you stop to think that maybe I wasn't the only woman there?" By the looks on their faces, Sam couldn't tell they hadn't.
True, there wasn't an abundance of female gears, but that fact that they'd come so far without sufficient information was humorous. Even in her present predicament, Sam couldn't help but crack a grin.
Carris ran a hand over his head. He turned around as he did so, before swinging back around abruptly, striking Sam in the jaw. The brunette let out a gasp on impact, but refused to cry out. She took a moment to steal herself.
"I bet your boss is going to have a thing or two to say, huh?" She flexed her aching jaw muscles, refusing to let her fear show through.
Sam didn't know what was going to happen now. She wasn't the one they needed. So what did that mean? Sam concluded that they could either kill her, or use her as a negotiating tactic. She prayed for the latter, holding the men's piercing gaze. His eyes flickered with rage; the bright whites a stark contrast to the black paint around the lash line. He was intimidating, but Sam didn't let it show.
The leader of the small group seemed to tense up at the mention of his boss, and though hidden by the bandana, his face had gone a shade paler than before. He turned to Barns, who'd already begun loosening his neck muscles, rolling his broad shoulders with a low crack.
"Gag this bitch before I cap her."